When it comes to giving persuasive presentations to senior executives, never underestimate what you can accomplish in the meeting before the meeting. 

Imagine the following scenario: You’ve finally snagged a spot on the agenda of an important leadership meeting to present your “big idea” to executive management. You’ve spent days reviewing your data, reconfiguring your PowerPoint, and refining your recommendations.

The presentation goes really well. You make eye contact with the execs, cater to each one’s decision-making style, and even use powerfully persuasive words like “evidently.” In your mind, you knocked this one out of the park.

But none of this matters: Their decision doesn’t go your way.

Later in the day, reflecting upon what happened, it occurs to you: They’d made up their minds long before hearing you out. At some moment in time after the meeting agenda was sent out (but before you picked up the slide clicker), the meeting outcome was predetermined by the decision-makers—and you weren’t included.

If the real decisions are being made before the meeting, it might not be enough to present your case and attempt to win hearts and minds in the boardroom.

Read my article for The Daily Muse.